Microsoft Opts-In Hotmail Users 704
medeii writes "East Side Journal reports that without telling anyone, Microsoft has suddenly changed the privacy preferences for all Hotmail users. They're now sharing your name and other personal information with third parties, even if you said you didn't want that when you signed up. (If you're a user, login, go to Options > Personal Profile, and un-check the boxes at the bottom of that page.)" The same reporter has written a follow-up article today.
You think that's bad? (Score:4, Interesting)
Mozilla users can't access Options->Personal Profile to opt out.
and here's from mozilla (Score:2, Interesting)
Microsoft®
Great, now MS 0wnz m3 and my little browser, too.
Privacy Subscription? (Score:3, Interesting)
Shouldn't privacy be a default thing to respect? Why should I have to constantly defend it?
Can I charge for infringment of my privacy? (like charging for spam?)
"To request your privacy options, tell us your life history. We want to make sure it's you, before we consider granting you temporary privacy."
If you do not allow us to use up bandwidth sending you stuff you do not want then you should pay us for lost revenues.
Re:You think that's bad? (Score:5, Interesting)
New TOS? (Score:5, Interesting)
The following is quoted from their TOS:
The MSN Web Sites are offered to you conditioned on your acceptance without modification of the terms, conditions, and notices contained herein. Your use of the MSN Web Sites constitutes your agreement to all such terms, conditions, and notices. Your use of a particular MSN Web Site included within the MSN Web Sites may also be subject to additional terms outlined elsewhere in this agreement (the "Additional Terms"). To go directly to any of the Additional Terms, click on the link below:
Carpoint
GamingZone
MSN Health
MSN Money
HomeAdvisor
MSN Hotmail
Encarta Online
MSN Mobile
MSN Music
MSN Shopping (eShop)
MSNBC
Auctions
MSN Photos
Additionally, the MSN Web Sites may themselves contain additional terms, codes of conduct or guidelines that govern use of those sites, including without limitation, particular features or offers (for example, sweepstakes or chat areas).
Oh, just an oversight.. (Score:4, Interesting)
If the story hits big, and big media starts questioning the practice, MS will claim that it was a programing error, it was changed but they actually have no plans to really share that data, or it was strictly an "accident" in preparing for some upcoming vapor feature they planned on adding or testing. Sorry..
If it doesnt hit big the plan will stay put and 99.9% of the users will never know.
Another reason I always use completely bogus information for these registration things.
Re:Surprise! (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:You think that's bad? (Score:4, Interesting)
Netscape navigator 4.08 or later is supported, but not my Mozilla 0.99? a step backward? or basically just not going to be friendly towards open source?
this sucks.
interesting process (Score:1, Interesting)
Well, I don't know how this is supposed to help children (since they can lie about their age) but it certainly has prevented me from abusing my account. I'm so happy there weren't any warnings or anything saying "we're going to fuck you if you play with us."
Re:Notice (Score:2, Interesting)
Sometimes you have to give out your address. Or maybe you called a toll free number - guess what, your phone number is in the database.
In the case of a monopoly like Verizon, you're stuck. But there are other cases where you have a choice.
Re:Hotmail became unsuable long ago (Score:2, Interesting)
I just stopped checking my old Hotmail address regularly within the past month, then at all this week, because I was sick of all the spam I had to keep deleting (a quick login showed 87 in the last 4 days, and that's without having given out this address to anyone in years) and because my school address was in general much more reliable. I also got mine before M$ bought the company, and I distinctly remember them promising when they bought it that they would always keep Hotmail a free service.
Now, I'm not saying Hotmail isn't free anymore, because I've never paid a cent for it. But here's what they've done to allow that:
Given these steps, which have occurred at fairly regular intervals, does it surprise you at all that they've progressed on to this? I can only imagine that next they'll replace those check boxes with bulleted lists, so that you can't opt out unless you become a paid subscriber... My advice to you is to change your name and address info immediately to something fake, clear out your Hotmail address book (because they're probably selling that too), and then to switch to a more reliable email provider. There are plenty of services that actively guard you against spam, so it shouldn't be too hard to find one you like.
Re:Surprise! (Score:2, Interesting)
DoS: Everyone sign up for a dozen hotmail accounts (Score:5, Interesting)
I hate to be the one to call for this, however it's just as legal as what they're doing. It's no the moral thing to do but it is legal. It's time to do something all you little
Use Hotmail as a Spam Trap (Score:5, Interesting)
I say bring em' on! I'm happy to waste MS's bandwith, and glad to help keep the spam databases current, so those of us running Spamassassin [spamassassin.org] can keep our real email accounts clean.
...Continue Using Hotmail... (Score:2, Interesting)
So, I guess that's my moral to the story... don't just use these services... USE them. Everyone that asks for your demographic info is giving you the opportunity to make ALL of that database less valid and less useful. This really is an opportunity.
They Changed my State and Zip, Too! (Score:2, Interesting)
It's really about MS Passport (Score:2, Interesting)
Having said this, this has more to do with Microsoft Passport than Microsoft. I've actually been evaluating Passport as an optional authentication method on a current project, and one of the features that it offers is that upon authentication partners can get the basic user information (such as what they state on their site when you look at what "other registration info lists") for the purpose of making it easier for the user to complete orders, etc. It's unfortunate that they hijacked Hotmail to begin this, and the preference should start and not (perhaps even terminating your account if you refuse to allow it, but certainly not automatically doing it), however that's the whole purpose of Passport : To give users one username and password, and to allow them an easier experience on the net. You can see the details at http://www.microsoft.com/myservices/passport/over
Re:Other things I love about hotmail (Score:3, Interesting)
Go to Options --> Junk mail deletion and you can choose to send it to
But seriously, I don't see why anyone should need more than 2Mb of space in a free email account. I use free email accounts only when I don't trust the person I'm giving the address to to not spam me (but when I need to give an email address to get a confirmation code, etc.)
My hotmail account has almost never been over 1Mb. If you're using it to store important email, you should either look into downloading your email using a POP3 client or seriously consider getting a real email provider.
\end{rant}
Speculation (Score:2, Interesting)
Those things are, however, long-term goals.
This action means a SHORT-term cash influx.
What I'm wondering is: could it be that Microsoft is having difficulty making payroll? X-Box is flopping, and what is the last major product release they've had? PC sales are not stellar either.
I realise the received wisdom is that they've got more money than God, but take just a moment to consider who that information is coming from: Microsoft itself, the same people who also say 'we'll be forced to make several million different versions of Windows', and 'this video will demonstrate to the Court that...'
Why do we suddenly believe them when they also say, 'Oh, and we have forty billion dollars. Isn't that cool?'?
Enron looked like a hell of a deal- until reality set in. How many billions of dollars did THEY say THEY had? And I don't think there's any evidence that Enron was LESS truthful than Microsoft.
Wouldn't it be interesting if Microsoft was secretly bankrupt?
Re:Other things I love about hotmail (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:You can also close your account (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Other things I love about hotmail (Score:3, Interesting)
Hotmail lost in a comparative test in Germany (Score:2, Interesting)
One competitor that got a good mark was Yahoo mail.
Dybdahl.
Is this M$'s Operation Footbullet? (Score:5, Interesting)
When the Church of $cientology began a few years ago to confront their critics on the Internet, some of the critics began to refer to their campaign as Operation Footbullet, because the Co$ simply blundered again and again in highly public fashion. Their corruption and outright craziness became more obvious than ever before to anyone who cared to look.
Has the Micro$oft Corporation been conducting its own Operation Footbullet? Up until about two or three years ago, much of this was ignored by the media and there was almost no awareness of their excesses in the general public. And of course many people still don't pay much attention to the software industry. But anyone who pays the least bit of attention is faced with a constant stream of reports about ruthlessness and frankly criminal behavior, a profound lack of respect for consumers and business partners, and a general stench of unethical behavior that can only be overpowered by Enron's awful stink. I suppose Enron is ahead of M$ on the scales of immorality, but nevertheless, M$ is risking going down in history as one of the greediest and most ruthless plutocrats since the the robber barons of the railroad and Standard Oil days -- and those are the ones who've held the record for over a hundred years!
Of course, some people will respond that I'm exaggerating. I'll probably even get modded as Flamebait or Troll. And indeed, it really is hard to state the case against Micro$oft without sounding like a zealot, because the accusations are simply so hair-raising, it's hard for the uninitiated to believe that they're all true (this is, in fact, what I used to think about the Church of $cientology). Judge Jackson should not have shot his mouth off the way he did, but who could blame the man, he probably just couldn't help himself. The awful fact is that M$ is one of the most appalling corporate gangsters in all of history.
Re:You think that's bad? (Score:5, Interesting)
I got all panicky and changed my preferences. Then I figured, if they're (obviously) not going to protect my privacy, why give away personal information?
So, thinking my birth-year information matters (it does to me) I put a bogus "1999" in the appropriate place. What resulted was an endless loop of the silly system asking "Is your parent there with you? [Yes] [No]" in a Microsoft
When I clicked "Yes", it asked for Passport login info. (I only have one Passport account). When I clicked "No" it asked for my name and my parents e-mail address. In other words, I'm now LOCKED out of an account I've had for four years!
Now what e-mail address am I going to use to register with at spam-bombers, like 1-800-FLOWERS.com or ILLUMINATIONS.com or IMSI.com? Or what about when bots no longer find my hotmail.com address at InterNIC? Will I miss all that spam?
(Yes, I got blocked the first attempt, too, using Konqueror; Switched to NS 4.78
Re:You think that's bad? (Score:3, Interesting)
What amounts to you having no rights, though, is that you probably clicked through an agreement in order to activate the account that said microsoft is free to change the terms and conditions of the account at any time, without notice. It's fucked up, and totally unethical, but borderline legal -- what else would you expect from Microsoft?
It's a free service... (Score:5, Interesting)
- It's totally free
- They provide a huge pile of hardware, software and people to keep up the site and datastores.
- They don't want money in return
- Everything but the sun costs money
So you people think that MS is a philantropic organisation? ALWAYS ask yourself when something is 'free' and the provider of the service has to spent a lot of money to give you this service for 'free': "Where's the catch?". I find this moaning about Hotmail rather silly, if you ask me. If you don't like it, get a real ISP account. Yes that costs money, start wondering where that money's for.
Re:and here's from mozilla (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:You think that's bad? (Score:5, Interesting)
I just turned those options off, then signed out. I logged back in to see if they had taken effect and found that -every- time you go into options, those boxes are automatically checked.
So beware, any time you change/view your options you need to uncheck the boxes again...
MigrateCookiesAcrossDomains (Score:3, Interesting)
I was just logging out after turning off those options that had magically been turned on when I noticed this URL go by in the address bar
fortunately, the system was being so slow that I had time to capture it. It looks as if the protections we are supposed to have about cookies not being sent to different domains mean nothing to Microsoft. No surprise there then.
Is this even legal? (Score:3, Interesting)
Sorry to ask the obvious question, but since IANAL, I'd be interested to know. If you have explicitly said you don't want a company to reveal your private details, can they legally change your mind for you? I realise that blanket statements about changing Ts&Cs without notice might apply to services like Hotmail, but that doesn't necessarily make them legal either. I would have expected this to fall foul of data protection legislation, at least in most European countries.
Re:Legality in the UK (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder if they also responded truthfully to their country of origin, and MS simply didn't opt them in for this reason...